F1: 2016 Canadian GP Practice – Pirelli

ULTRASOFT TYRES ALLOW HAMILTON TO SET BEST TIME OF THE DAYALREADY BEATING 2015 POLE TIME

COOL TRACK TEMPERATURES IN THE MORNING, THEN RISING TO NEARLY 40 DEGREES CENTIGRADE IN FP2

ULTRASOFT AROUND 0.6 SECONDS PER LAP FASTER THAN SUPERSOFT

Montreal, June 10, 2016 – All three compounds selected for the Canadian Grand Prix were used during free practice today, which started in the morning with just 14 degrees centigrade ambient. In those cool conditions drivers had to pay particular attention to tyre warm-up, to ensure that the tyres were operating within their correct working range and extract the maximum of their potential.

As a result of the cool temperatures in the morning there was some graining but this is a normal phenomenon in Canada, which is expected to diminish as more rubber is laid on the track. By the end of FP2, temperatures have raised significantly with about 0.6 seconds separating the ultrasoft from the supersoft tyre, although this gap should come down slightly as the weekend progresses.

Lewis Hamilton already beat his 2015 pole time during FP2, en route to a best time of 1m14.212s on the ultrasoft tyre. With the weather in Canada always unpredictable –cooler conditions are expected for Sunday – it was important for all the teams to gather as much information as they could about each compound on different fuel loads.

Toro Rosso was the only team to try all three compounds. The other teams focused on a combination of soft and ultrasoft (because the soft only is nominated as mandatory for the race) or on a combination of supersoft and ultrasoft (presumably to compare the difference between the two softer compounds).

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The teams were able to get a good read on all three of our slick compounds today, despite the low track temperatures that made driving conditions quite difficult and exacerbated the lack of grip. Canada always produces an entertaining race and from what we’ve seen so far wear and degradation seems to be quite low, even with the ultrasoft.”

FP1 – TIMES

FP2 – TIMES

1. Hamilton

1m14.755s

Supersoft new

1. Hamilton

1m14.212s

Ultrasoft new

2. Rosberg

1m15.086s

Ultrasoft new

2. Vettel

1m14.469s

Ultrasoft new

3. Vettel

1m15.243s

Supersoft new

3. Rosberg

1m14.738s

Ultrasoft new

FP1 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Soft

Verstappen

1m15.552s

Supersoft

Hamilton

1m14.755s

Ultrasoft

Rosberg

1m15.086s

FP2 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Soft

Hamilton

1m14.941s

Supersoft

Verstappen

1m15.259s

Ultrasoft

Hamilton

1m14.212s

LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY

Soft

Palmer

42 laps

Supersoft

Hulkenberg

28

Ultrasoft

Rosberg

29

Grosjean

29

Tyre statistics of the day:

Soft

Supersoft

Ultrasoft

kms driven *

1988

1957

2149

sets used overall **

35

34

27

highest number of laps **

42

28

29

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.** Per compound, all drivers combined.

Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 21 psi (fronts) 19 psi (rears)

Pirelli fact of the day: Unpredictability is the name of the game in Canada: three out of the last five Canadian Grands Prix have featured a late change of lead (starting with the longest race in F1 history, in 2011, when Jenson Button claimed a memorable win by moving into the lead on the final lap – having previously been last.

Spotted in the paddock: Carles Puyol. The former Barcelona and Spain football star (a Spanish international on more than 100 occasions) was a welcome visitor to the Pirelli hospitality. Known as ‘The Wall’ until his retirement in 2014, he now has more time to discover Formula 1, as a brand ambassador for new sponsor Heineken.